Kentucky Armory Club

I'm currently lookign for a used compound bow. I know nothing.

Guide me oh great ones. Guide me.

I should also note that I am left handed.. I shoot left handed.

My husband thinks I should buy a right handed bow and force myself to learn to shoot right handed.

Does the left or right hand bow matter?

Well, I am not a 'great one' but I can tell ya that I won't buy a used one unless I have someone look it over and tell me what I am getting. I am not that confident in what I am looking at.

Who ya planning on teaching you to use it and to size it/adjust it for ya?


Might be best to go to King's and get a new one, have them adjust it to you, give you some instruction and free range time and help you adjust sights to 20 yards or so. They might sell some used one's too. Not sure.

are you left eye dominate? If so do not change up and force yourself to shoot right handed.

Lots of left handed bows and shooters out there. I have been shooting with a group of about 6 guys on a semi regular basis. 2 of us are right handed shooters.

ChopperDoc wrote:Well, I am not a 'great one' but I can tell ya that I won't buy a used one unless I have someone look it over and tell me what I am getting. I am not that confident in what I am looking at.

Who ya planning on teaching you to use it and to size it/adjust it for ya?


Might be best to go to King's and get a new one, have them adjust it to you, give you some instruction and free range time and help you adjust sights to 20 yards or so. They might sell some used one's too. Not sure.

You have to size these things?!

See this is why I need a hand holder.

ChopperDoc wrote:are you left eye dominate? If so do not change up and force yourself to shoot right handed.

Lots of left handed bows and shooters out there. I have been shooting with a group of about 6 guys on a semi regular basis. 2 of us are right handed shooters.

I am left eye dominant.

I'm left dominant everything but using scissors. Damn school teachers forcing me to use the right handed scissors.

You want it to be set to your draw length and the right pound pull for you. You also do not want to shoot just any cheap ass arrows, as some are not designed for the speed of your bow and will explode when you loose it, or some such stuff.

I am still learning. The 3D target shoot is about to start back up since bow season is over. Looking forward to learning a lot more.

left eye dominant... you are going to get your best accuracy with a rifle or bow shooting left handed. Don't change it up.

Cabela's can set you up the same as King's. I prefer the local store though. Good people at King's Archery. I learned a lot in the short time they spent with me adjusting my new bow, helping me learn to shoot it and sight it in on their range.

taking the boy up there soon to get his first compound bow.

ChickenLady wrote:

ChopperDoc wrote:Well, I am not a 'great one' but I can tell ya that I won't buy a used one unless I have someone look it over and tell me what I am getting. I am not that confident in what I am looking at.

Who ya planning on teaching you to use it and to size it/adjust it for ya?


Might be best to go to King's and get a new one, have them adjust it to you, give you some instruction and free range time and help you adjust sights to 20 yards or so. They might sell some used one's too. Not sure.

You have to size these things?!

See this is why I need a hand holder.

lol...I've been wanting to get one for a while. Yeah, there is a lot that goes into it

Hmm I might call or stop in this weekend and see if they sell used bows. I just don't want to drop the cash on a new bow if I end up not liking it after I get it.

ssracer wrote:

ChickenLady wrote:

ChopperDoc wrote:Well, I am not a 'great one' but I can tell ya that I won't buy a used one unless I have someone look it over and tell me what I am getting. I am not that confident in what I am looking at.

Who ya planning on teaching you to use it and to size it/adjust it for ya?


Might be best to go to King's and get a new one, have them adjust it to you, give you some instruction and free range time and help you adjust sights to 20 yards or so. They might sell some used one's too. Not sure.

You have to size these things?!

See this is why I need a hand holder.

lol...I've been wanting to get one for a while. Yeah, there is a lot that goes into it

You cannot be my hand holder.

Sorry I was chastised last time I offered archery advice as being old and out dated.

So if you want to know about stick bows or original Allen patent compounds , got you covered.

guncrank1 wrote:Sorry I was chastised last time I offered archery advice as being old and out dated.

So if you want to know about stick bows or original Allen patent compounds , got you covered.

Cranky. You are old and outdated. But we still welcome you with open arms. From a distance.

As I have mentioned to you before, would it not be worthwhile to start with something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bear-Archery-Sc ... 2ecd7b9600

It's not something I would use to hunt with, but it is suitable to learn with and with minimal precautions, is safe for backyard practice. All of the basics you need to aquire are readily accessible with a set like this and a small investment in some cedar practice arrows, and some time and effort.

If it would help, I'd be happy to help you learn how to use it, and what to practice to graduate to better, more expensive gear.

I feel so uncool looking at that lol

ChickenLady wrote:I feel so uncool looking at that lol

That is a prefect bow for frog gigging

Sorry about uncool, but starting at the bottom & working your way up is how it works. It also gives you a chance to see if it really is something you want to put the time & effort into w/o wasting a lot of money.

Just trying to help.

From the Wyldphone

Forgive me if I missed someone else mentioning this but she also needs to identify if this is for target or hunting.

Target bows more often have only a single sight pin for 20 yards and can have stabilizing outriggers ( forgot actual term). They also use different string releases that are much less forgiving and tend to release on a finger flinch. Hunting bow sights can be setup and dialed in at multiple distances and have string mufflers. They also use trigger releases that are less likely to accidentally. fire.



Please forgive me for any inaccuracies but I haven't weilded a bow in 20 years.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

I imagine in the beginning I'm going to be target. I would love to take it into hunting though

And I'm saying you should start small and work up to full blown hunting rig. Learning on a complex hunting rig is not going to be much fun and very expensive. If you start small, you can invest very little and see if you really want to invest any more time and/or money. A basic shooting rig will teach all the fundamentals required for moving up and those same skills will translate easily to a more complex rig. The setup I showed you earlier can easily teach you that which you need and also can be passed along to Lucille should she show any interest (trust me, if she sees Momma doing it, she will want to learn, as well! Monkey see, monkey do!)

KISS! Keep it simple, stupid! Not calling names, just quoting a basic tenet of training that applies to any new skill to be learned.

You can learn to shoot and handle firearms much more easily on a Daisy Red Rider BB gun than you can on a .308 hunting rifle, just a whole lot more safely and way cheaper. Do you want to practice in the back yard with a bow that launches arrows at over 90 mph? That beginner's bow is still deadly at 20, or so, mph, just not as deadly as a hunting rig at 90+.

If you prefer that I just butt out, say so, and I will be happy to accomodate.

I completely get what your saying. Will I listen? Maybe.